Thursday, March 08, 2007 Councilor denies harassing trader By Dante M. Fabian
ANGELES City Councilor Jay Sangil said the harassment charge hurled against him by a businesswoman "is just meant to divert attention from her hotel's encroachment in public land which is a violation of the building laws."
Sangil claimed he is the one being harassed by Rosella Breckenridge, owner of the protested Pacific Breeze Hotel in Balibago, because even on the first hearing of the complaints against the hotel, the trader threatened him with charges before the Office of the Ombudsman.
According to him, Breckenridge also imputed malicious remarks that he took interest in the case because the elections are drawing near.
This developed as the City Council moved to declare Breckenridge as persona non grata for her remarks that allegedly cast doubts in the councilors' integrity and reputation.
Sangil and Councilors Efren Dela Cruz and Lito Ganzon proposed the move.
Minutes of the City Council blue ribbon committee hearing last February 26 showed that Breckenridge admitted saying that a certain Max Macloughlin told her in December last year that Rovimar's Ron Wakley "was bragging to him that he had nine out of 10 councilors in his pocket."
She added that three weeks later she got a letter from Sangil informing her "there was a complaint from Ron Blim about my building not having enough parking spaces."
Dela Cruz also recommended the filing of libel charges against Breckenridge for uttering the "damaging story" several times during the hearing.
Breckenridge on Tuesday appeared at the City Council with her lawyers to comment on the proposal to declare her as persona non grata.
Reacting to accusations by Breckenridge that he is being "overzealous" in investigating reports of violations in the construction of their hotel, Sangil said: "If it is a crime to be doing my duty as chairman of the City Council committee on engineering and public works, then I am willing to be convicted."
Sangil said he has no reasons whatsoever to harass the owner of the hotel. He said that until the committee convened to resolve the reported violations of the Pacific Breeze Hotel, he did not know Breckenridge or any of her partners.
"I have not singled out any businessman and I have been fair and square in handling the complaints hurled by Phil Rovimar and Rhidge Mhills, Breckenridge's company that operates the Pacific Breeze Hotel, at each other. In fact I have even asked zoning officer David David and our city architect to make a formal certification that a two-meter setback may be allowed and citing laws and specific sections of the National Building Code (NBC) to that effect," he said.
He added, however, that more than a week had passed but David had not submitted any report or certifications.
"Why should I harass them? In the first place I have no personal or business interest in any of the parties," he said, adding "the encroachment of Breckenridge's Pacific Breeze Hotel was brought to my attention only because I'm the chairman of the City Council committee on engineering and public works and in the course of my investigating the complaint I happened to stumble on a "can of worms" in anomalies involving some officials of the Office of the City Building Office (OCBO).
"In light of these anomalies, Angeles Mayor Carmelo Lazatin has also vowed to investigate the reported involvement of city engineering and zoning officials in intentionally allowing defects on construction projects," Sangil said.
